North East Wales Diversity Festival

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RainbowBiz who organised this year’s North East Wales Diversity Festival have a new exciting venue for Diversity 2017. The venue for 2017 will be Mold Rugby Club. RainbowBiz are delighted to be bring this unique 3 day festival, including the first ever Flintshire Pride to the area. Hoping to build on this year’s North East Wales Diversity Festival and reach a new audience, RainbowBiz have decided to work closely with Mold Rugby Club (who like RainbowBiz are also a social enterprise) in planning Diversity 2017. The whole of the club will be used including in door function room, bar and outdoor grassed areas. A marquee will also be set up to include a stage. There will even be a camp site for festival goers to use. Although still several months away Misty Chance, Manchester’s very own fantastic cabaret star has already signed on to host Flintshire Prides afternoon programme of entertainment which will include a Eurovision Karaoke and several acts and performers to entertain the crowds. David Williams, Director and one of Diversity 2017s performance managers said ‘it’s going to be absolutely amazing. Flintshire Pride will be a free event, the first of it’s kind. The theme for the day is International love so we can guarantee it’s going to be very bright and cheerful. We hope you’ll come and support us.’ Diversity 2017 also includes an Alternative Metal and Rock Night on Friday, 26th May and the Sunday Chillout, a full day and night of mixed and diverse performances and workshops on 28th May 2017. Tickets for the Friday and Sunday events and also camping passes will shortly go on sale. Please take a look at the website www.diversityfestival.co.uk and follow the events on social media. The team are working towards having a large parade around Mold on Saturday, 27th May to support equality, diversity and inclusion.

RainbowBiz are looking for financial support and sponsorship, volunteers, speakers, artists, charities and information stalls, traders and performers for all events during the weekend. Please get in touch with the festival team at:

After this year’s successful North East Wales Diversity Festival, RainbowBiz and their volunteers have embarked on the organisation for next year’s event which is planned for the bank holiday weekend of 26th/27th/28th May 2017. As part of next year’s #diversity2017 weekend there will be another alternative, rock and metal night on Friday 26th, a Flintshire Pride event on Saturday 27th and a Diverse Sunday Chillout day full of mixed performances. All events will take place inside the Civic Hall in Connah’s Quay with organisations, information and charitable stalls in the “Unity Square” outside the Civic Hall area to incorporate a road block to ensure safety of visitors.

Sarah Way, Director and volunteer at RainbowBiz said “our business has always been about equality and diversity, in fact all our Directors are from the LGBT community. Due to the recent atrocities that are still taking place in the world and the current political climate what better time is there to have a Pride in Flintshire. Our whole community has been moved and saddened by recent events in Orlando, Florida and by comments made by UK politicians, we need to stand together, shoulder to shoulder, after all love is love.”

There has already been a positive response to Flintshire having its own Pride event which will provide a safe place for all people and friends from our rainbow communities to come together in a safe environment for a day to remember history and to celebrate the future. Labour Assembly Member for Delyn, Hannah Blythyn said “It’s brilliant news that Flintshire is to have a Pride event next year –it will be a great opportunity to bring the community together in both remembrance and celebration and I am only too happy to support the event.”

The theme of the first Flintshire Pride will be “International Love”, activities will include a Eurovision Song Contest karaoke competition, hosting from hugely popular Drag Artist Misty Chance from Manchester’s very own Gay Village who came forward within 24 hours to support the event! RainbowBiz will be inviting all organisations along who can support the event with information for LGBTQ visitors and friends. There will be a Transgender changing room available inside the event to ensure safety, privacy and confidence to individuals coming along on the day.

RainbowBiz are looking for more volunteers to support with the #Diversity2017 weekend and the Flintshire Pride event. There is a role for everyone! Take a look at www.diversityfestival.co.uk for details of all events planned for 2017.

The festival team have just completed their final site visit prior to barriers going up on site this week for the North East Wales Diversity Festival this bank holiday. Streetscene, Flintshire County Council’s street team have done an amazing job of strimming, weeding, and scrubbing the site in readiness for the large event. The performance manager for the North East Wales Diversity Festival weekend, Outdoor Stage Manager for the Saturday, and local RainbowBiz Director Dave Williams from Aston said “it’s going to be a fantastic event full of colourful, vibrant performers on both stages during the weekend and around the festival site. I would definitely encourage families to come along and support this event which we hope will become an annual event in Flintshire.”

Just 4 days left until possibly the largest and most vibrant, diverse festival the county has seen. The North East Wales Diversity Festival is fully supported by Flintshire County Council, Big Lottery and organised by RainbowBiz Limited a not for profit organisation who run regular, voluntary run mind, body, spirit, craft fairs, a gardening project and Flintshire Flicks, a community cinema.

Capital FM presenter Ben Sheppard will be attending the festival with the street team who will be running a competition to win tickets for the “Judge Jules” who is performing locally in May. Talonted Feathers will be bringing their beautiful birds of prey, the Tropical Roadshow will be there with a variety of reptiles and other animals to touch and hold throughout the day. Dru Yoga will be offering hourly taster sessions in their marquee in the Community Gardens throughout the day, drumming workshops will take place inside a large tipi. The Connah’s Quay Library will be putting on 2 “Rhyme Time” sessions during the early part of the festival day on Saturday. There will be many activities that children can get involved in, and for the adults, 2 performance stages, one inside and one outside with musicians and dancers from all over the UK.

The food vendors have all 5* hygiene ratings which have been individually checked, and there will even be Llangollen Brewery, Hafod Brewery and a surfboard style cocktail bar and of course the RainbowBiz CommuniTEA Café will be open serving teas, coffees, hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows and homemade cakes inside the Civic Hall indoor venue. (complete with seats to rest those tired festival feet). The RainbowBiz Hippy Shop, selling ethnic, fair trade, colourful clothing, gifts and crafts will also be trading next to the CommuniTEA Café inside the Civic Hall on the day, both projects are not for profit and all monies go back into keeping the voluntary projects going.

Of course once the Saturday outdoor event has finished at 6pm, the weekend is not by any means over. At 7pm on the Saturday, there will be an evening of alternative, rock and metal starting inside the Civic Hall in Connah’s Quay promising a bouncing evening of entertainment. Tickets are available online and on the door subject to availability.

Do not miss the Sunday Chillout event on Sunday, 1st May which is the longest of all the weekend’s events including burlesque workshops, acoustic performances, folk and blues, rock, DJs, rappers, spoken word to name a few. Starting at 11am inside the Civic Hall, Connah’s Quay, ending after 11pm. Children welcome with a responsible adult. (Children aged 12 and under free entry).

RainbowBiz are proud to announce the launch of the new Welsh language version of the North East Wales Diversity Festival website. Volunteers have spent literally weeks translating and creating pages for the website. RainbowBiz felt very strongly that a full Welsh website should be created to support equality and diversity the ethos and theme of the festival. Volunteers would love to hear feedback regarding the festival website. There are now bilingual posters which have been designed and printed by Double Click, another local social enterprise who are based in Shotton. The posters are being displayed all over Flintshire and being send digitally to different organisations and shared through Facebook and Twitter. RainbowBiz will soon have two large festival banners which will be displayed in prominent places in Connah’s Quay where the festival will take place.

Capital FM are officially supporting the festival and Ben Sheppard with the Capital FM car will be taking part in the parade which gathers at Wepre Park at 9.30am on Saturday, 30th April. The parade will be proudly led by the Welsh Cambria Band who will then play in front of the outdoor stage to welcome the dignitaries before the event is officially opened by RainbowBiz’s official Patron the Rt Hon Lord Barry Jones. Capital FM’s street team will be there during the day interacting with the crowds and creating a real buzz.

There are many food vendors confirmed now including a hog roast, stone baked pizza, a large paella, spicy wraps, curry, Mexican wraps, gourmet burgers, milkshakes, lemonade, fresh donuts and much more. The diversity festival is proud to have real ale brewers Hafod Brewery and the Llangollen Brewery joining them on the day plus a surf board style cocktail bar.

There are over 40 confirmed performers throughout the weekend, all to be held in Connah’s Quay. The Alternative Fashion Fest will be performing on both days with over 30 people taking part in each performance providing a real taste of diversity, showing beauty and art in many forms.

RainbowBiz who are the driving force behind the festival are very excited to share that tickets for each event and for the Weekend pass are now on sale locally from Connah’s Quay Town Centre Offices on Fron Road, Deeside, opening hours are 9.00am – 4.30pm. Tickets are also available online at www.diversityfestival.co.uk/tickets/

There are now over 60 stalls booked in for the new annual event. If you would like a stall at the festival event, please email info@diversityfestival.co.uk for booking information.

Tickets will be available for all events on the day at the ticket/information point on the festival site in Connah’s Quay. Children aged 12 and under are free when accompanied by an adult.

RainbowBiz a Flintshire based not for profit social enterprise have been successful in a bid to the Big Lottery Wales to provide support to their first annual North East Wales Diversity Festival.

Sarah Way, one of the four Directors at RainbowBiz said “we are very honoured to have been selected by the Lottery Fund to win financial backing for our new annual festival which is taking place at the end of April this Spring. The funding is crucial as the overheads to the festival have been very high despite a lot of local support from some generous businesses. The Lottery Fund will provide us with an outdoor stage for some of the many musicians and DJ’s that are performing during the weekend of the festival. It will also enable us to buy bilingual signage and safety equipment for volunteers”

The Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better for their communities across the UK. We are responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery for good causes and invest over £650 million a year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable purposes.

Since June 2004 we have awarded over £8 billion to projects that make a difference to people and communities in need, from early years intervention to commemorative travel funding for World War Two veterans.

Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £33 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.

The Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better for their communities across the UK. We are responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery and invest over £650 million a year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable purposes.

Since June 2004 we have awarded over £8 billion to projects that change the lives of millions of people. Every year we fund 13,000 small local projects tackling big social problems like poor mental health and homelessness.

Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £34 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.

The planning for the North East Wales Diversity Festival is in full swing, and there will be lots of different events to attend throughout the bank holiday weekend of the 30th April 2016. The location for all these events will be in Connah’s Quay situated around the large Somerfield carpark and Civic Hall/Library areas. A vast array of talented musicians and performers have come forward to play at the first of these annual events to celebrate diversity in all forms. RainbowBiz and the festival team are working hard around the clock to make sure all events run smoothly.

April 30th Saturday day. The outdoor event to include a large parade, an array of stalls in the large car park area, outdoor and indoor stages, local organisations and businesses. Stalls will include an array of exciting colourful stalls, international food stalls and locally brewed ales.

April 30th Saturday night. The Civic Hall in Connah’s Quay will play host to a rock and metal night (indoor venue only).

May 1st Sunday day and night. Chillout Sunday, a relaxed event with seats available to enjoy a full day and evening full of mixed performances and entertainment.

Early bird tickets are now available online but only until the end of February. The ticket prices are very reasonable and were carefully discussed by the festival team so that everyone feels able to attend.

RainbowBiz who are managing this event are asking for more volunteers to join the festival team, to take on different areas of responsibility as time gets closer the team are becoming very busy and are working around the clock to ensure all aspects are covered.

The festival is still looking for craft, upcycling, vintage, ethnic, fair trade and clothing stalls, please email info@diversityfestival.co.uk if you are interested.

North East Wales Diversity Fundraiser

Saturday, 5th March at 7.30pm at McLeans in Pentre

The next fundraiser is a film screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show (Rated 15) shown in conjunction with Flintshire Flicks another of RainbowBiz projects, Goodfor Audio and McLeans who kindly agreed to host this fundraiser. Entry is FREE, donations will be taken on the door, and hotdogs will be available throughout the night to raise money for the festival.

Successful fundraising event took place at the weekend in Connah’s Quay for the North East Wales Diversity Festival

The North East Wales Diversity Festival had another successful event raising money last Saturday at their monthly fundraiser in Connah’s Quay Labour Club.

Over 30 stalls attended the Mind, Body, Spirit, Holistic and Craft Fair on Saturday and Tesco in Mold very generously donated tea, coffee, soup, donuts and cookies to be sold to raise money for the main festival events on April 30th and May 1st this year.

A total of £431.60 was raised at the event which will really help towards the overheads of the festival.
RainbowBiz will be putting on regular Mind, Body, Spirit, Holistic and Craft Fairs in Deeside over the next few months as there has been such a positive feeling about last weekend’s event.

Please contact info@rainbowbiz.org.uk if you would like to put your name down for future events. The events are run by the registered social enterprise, where all profits go back into more community projects.

Sarah, one of RainbowBiz Directors said “the fundraiser was a really positive event, where people were able to relax and meet new friends in a warm and welcoming environment, we are looking forward to the next one”

80’s star Andy Bell from Erasure sends a supporting video to the North East Wales Diversity Festival as a huge line up of performances are released.

The organisation for this new Flintshire based festival is really gathering pace. Last week a parade was confirmed and this week over 40 bands and performers were officially released via the website www.diversityfestival.co.uk

The festival team have been working hard to organise a busy schedule of music, workshops and activities which are to take place throughout the bank holiday weekend of 30th April and 1st May 2016.

On Saturday, 30th April the parade will gather at Wepre Park at 9.30am to start at 10am and be led to the festival site by the Welsh Cambria Band. Also confirmed for the day are festival supporters Capital FM who will be bringing their street team along, more details will be confirmed soon. There are two stages running a number of performers throughout the day. There will be lots of different types of food from a hogroast, vegetarian choices to Mexican wraps and much more. We have invited local breweries to come along as our site is fully licensed. There will be a strong family feel to the festival and absolutely everyone is welcome to come along on the day. Come and see what’s going on in the Diversity Village with it’s colourful array of craft, vintage and curious stalls.

After the day event has ended at 6pm there is another event for rock and metal fans, this will be held inside the Civic Hall from 7pm until late where The Transum are headlining making it impossible for music fans to stand still!

This is not the end of the festival by any means, on the Sunday there is a full day and night of performances, there will be seats available to make it a more relaxed event and refreshments will be available while there will be performances of burlesque to blues and folk musicians.

Tickets are available via the website at a special early bird rate of just £5, under 12’s will have free entry when accompanied by a responsible adult.

Please visit the website www.diversityfestival.co.uk for more information on each performer, choose the event you would like to attend and purchase your reduced early bird tickets. You can also like the Facebook page and join the separate events throughout the weekend to ensure you keep updated. Visit here www.facebook.com/diversityfestivalwales/

We have been overwhelmed by the standard of the performances that will be playing during the weekend, this festival will be talked about for many months. Don’t miss out.

Sarah, one of RainbowBiz Directors and an organiser of the festival team said “we are so honoured to have celebrities sending us videos of support for what we are trying to achieve, spreading the positive message of diversity in North East Wales. First Gareth Wyn Jones from the Hill Farm, Snowdonia series on TV and now 80’s icon Andy Bell of Erasure.”

Yesterday was a perfect day for a site meeting, warm and sunny, which is hopefully what the weather will be like on the day of the North East Wales Diversity Festival, Saturday, 30th April 2016.

Equality and diversity champions joined the meeting from North Wales Police and Flintshire County Council in addition to licensing staff. Everyone walked around the large site where this annual festival will take place, incorporating the land surrounding Connah’s Quay Civic Hall, areas to the front of the Connects/Library building and the large carpark to the left of the old Sommerfield building.

The festival is managed by the team at RainbowBiz, a social enterprise based locally in Flintshire who run volunteer projects locally including “Flintshire Flicks” pop up community cinema.

Sarah Way, a director for RainbowBiz said “The site that the festival will be hosted on is pretty perfect for our requirements, it is visible from the North Wales Coast Road which will attract people on the day of the festival. The main “Diversity Village” area and connecting paths are on hard standing allowing ease of passage for pedestrians, families with push chairs and people who are wheelchair users, making it a very accessible event. We have an Accessibility Manager who is working with Flintshire County Council to ensure our festival site is a safe place for everyone to enjoy.”

Since the festival was able to release the location after land permissions were granted by Flintshire County Council, festival staff have received numerous offers of help from sponsors, supporters and volunteers. One of our sponsors is from Manchester, Liz Thompson from Unity Civil Celebrancy will be coordinating and working with all the holistic, wellness and charity/cause stalls and involving public information stalls too.
Liz Thompson who also attended the recent site meeting said “The festival is going to be really good for the Flintshire community, bringing in people from far and wide. A perfect and safe setting for people to come together and celebrate their individuality and their local community in a vibrant explosion of colour and activity. The Unity Village part of the festival will be promoting physical and spiritual well being as well as promoting local charities and causes. There really will be something for everyone on the day”.

Lots of people are getting involved now, and this is what this festival is really about. The RainbowBiz team are pushing forward with organising monthly fundraisers at the Connah’s Quay Labour Club on Fron Road. The first one is on Saturday, November 21st, where there will be opportunities to learn guitar, and win free lessons in the raffle. These opportunities are being generously donated by local festival sponsor, guitar tutor Michael Clarke Studios in Connah’s Quay. Michael said “I am really looking forward to helping towards being involved in the festival and am only too happy to donate both the tuition and the raffle prize of lessons, I am sure it will be a big success and the community will come out in force”. A 15 minute workshop will cost just £3, these workshops can be taken up by children or adults who are interested in having a go. Michael Clarke will bring guitars on the day for people taking up this amazing offer. There will be 3 talented, local acoustic musicians playing throughout the afternoon, hot food will be available throughout the day and evening. Stalls and car boots are welcome for the outside carpark area at a small cost of £5 each plus a raffle donation. This will be a family friendly event offering individuals and families a chance to go to a local event together at a very reasonable cost, for a great cause. All funds raised at the event will go towards the festival costs in April 2016. Tickets for this event are available in advance from the Labour Club, Fron Road, Connah’s Quay at just £3 and also on the door on the day at £4.

The North East Wales Diversity Festival is an exciting new annual festival which aims to embrace culture and diversity through world music, food and the arts. On 30 April 2016 North East Wales will play host to a festival embracing differences and welcoming people from around the United Kingdom. As well as main performance areas there will be a Diversity Village which will provide a vibrant area filled with colour and interesting stalls and foods to explore. There will also be a well-being and information area sponsored by Unity Civil Celebrancy which will promote different aspects of health, belief and public information, in order to offer something different for everyone to experience. Organisers are also working with local authorities to co-ordinate a colourful parade through the streets of North Wales.

The festival will be located on the gateway to North Wales in the heart of Connah’s Quay. Flintshire County Council have given their go ahead and have already been working with organisers to secure the most suitable site which will offer full accessibility to festival goers from around the country. The festival site is located in and around the Civic Hall in Connah’s Quay and there are a number of fully accessible public buildings and parking facilities which are being looked at to be fully utilised during the bank holiday weekend event.

Cllr. Bernie Attridge, Deputy Leader of Flintshire County Council and Cabinet Member for Environment said,

“Flintshire County Council is committed to the principles of fairness and equality both in the provision of its services and as an employer to ensure everyone can take a full and active part in a society in which difference is valued and harassment and discrimination is not tolerated.

I am delighted that Flintshire County Council has been able to offer support and advice to RainbowBiz in organising the North East Wales Diversity Festival. The Festival promises to be a wonderful, entertaining and informative event that will bring people together in a celebration of our rich and diverse culture.”

The driving force behind the co-ordination of the festival are local social enterprise RainbowBiz who already run a number of regular community based projects. They are a well respected organisation in the local community and have received many excellent testimonials over the years, their most recent comes from Carl Sargeant AM for Alyn and Deeside who said “The festival looks set to become a flagship event for the area, encompassing and celebrating all of the rich strands of our communities”.

As you can imagine there has already been a huge buzz of interest around the festival and organisers are looking to work with commercial businesses to assist with funding for the event. Sponsorship packages and information has been released on the festival website www.diversityfestival.co.uk during its first stage of promotion, in order to secure the funding required to host such an exciting event.

Hundreds of performers, stall holders, charitable organisations and businesses have already contacted organisers through social media and email to express their interest in being a part of this fantastic event. The festival will celebrate difference within the protected characteristic groups; age, gender, sexual orientation, race, disability, sex, religion and belief as well as celebrating everything that is fantastic about living, working and visiting North East Wales.

Sue Oliver, director at RainbowBiz Limited said “Already we have been talking with people from as far away as Scotland down to London. Our festival logo was actually designed and produced for us by a London designer, through a simple tweet request by one of our volunteers. The interest and support we have received so far has been quite overwhelming and just reinforces the need for such a festival in North East Wales. It is the aim of the festival to bring people together, to celebrate and embrace differences. I have personally experienced discrimination first hand, which is perhaps why I feel so passionately about equality and diversity. We would like to welcome people from all walks of life to come together in our local community and enjoy a weekend of entertainment, fun, difference and culture”.

Already the local Connah’s Quay Labour Party Social Club has opened up its doors to host an afternoon and evening fundraiser in support of the festival. The first of many fundraisers will be on Saturday 21 November 2015, it will offer an afternoon of live acoustic performances from local artists who also support the festival. Lots more entertainment is planned for throughout the day, with something for everyone to get involved with and enjoy. The fundraiser will then turn into an evening disco which promises to go on until late. All monies raised during the fundraiser will be used to help support the festival and organisers are hoping that local people will come out and show their support. More details will be released on the festival website www.diversityfestival.co.uk as soon as they are available. Advanced tickets will be on sale at Connah’s Quay Town Centre Offices and the Labour Party Social Club, please call 07759 753 473 for more details.